Bowling Green Observations

[Pistol]

Apologies for starting a new thread on the BGSU game, but the others are the game thread and Jon Smith thread, and I figured I'd go bigger picture since I actually did observe this game.

Bowling Green plays in Anderson Arena, which is now about 50 years old. It seats 6,000 and my guess of 1,500 for attendance was surprisingly accurate (1,518 in the box score), as the place didn't get very full at all. It's one of those old, quirky gyms that can feel very foreign to visiting players- wall at one end like a high school gym, very old baskets, the team colors plastered everywhere, hostile voices in the crowd that stand out individually- not an easy place to play for a team that just spent a month at home. No excuses, though. BGSU breaks ground on a new arena this year that should be complete in 2012.

I sat with the small contingent of SLU fans behind our bench; about half of these were Jon Smith's family and friends, and I was surprised at how reserved and polite they were, even when he was in and making plays. I would have been much louder if given a rare chance to see my brother/son/cousin/buddy play live. Super nice people. There were a few other SLU families there and a nice older couple from Toledo (the guy had the best SLU hat ever- I'll post the photo when I get home); so while we had some fans there who were very positive and stayed to the end, it wasn't exactly a raucous road cheering section (I was alone and unwilling to be a loud weirdo- need at least one other person to do that).

As you've all read by now, Jon Smith was the lone bright spot in this game. He was a spark off the bench. I counted 3, maybe 4 blocks, as on one, he and Remekun jumped for the same one and it was hard to see who got it, so the stat sheet shows Smith. I thought Remekun had more than 1 anyway, or that Reed had one- didn't seem like he got all our blocks. Either way, he was the most active big, and a lot of times was the only one making any noise on the bench and during timeouts. The other guys seemed tired or lost. Kwamain had a nice second half, I will say that much.

Once again, the road shooting is abysmal. I don't know what it is about SLU teams, whether these most recent ones, or Soderberg's, or Romar's, or Spoon's on back- we don't freaking score on the road. We can't shoot it. We're not a good shooting team this year, period, but on the road it's scary bad. The 6-19 from 3 is deceptive, as most of those came at the end when we tried to close the gap in garbage time. Cassity had the only one in the first half (the first basket of the game, at under 14 minutes) but he, Salecich, and Mitchell were all clanking them early. Conklin was the only one to get to the line in the first half and clanked both.

I knew we'd have problems when I saw Reed guarding Otis Polk for the first time. Polk got the ball in the post, turned and lowered his shoulder, sent Willie to the floor, and had an easy 2. They should have used Polk more because we had no bigs within 65 pounds of him, although he looked lazy this game and got a few fouls and sat more than usual. The size we give up underneath is a big problem. If Polk played his normal game, he could have had 20 and 12 without a problem. Willie looked like a very young freshman in this one. At least Smith and Remekun actually are just that.

Cassity worries me; if he can't shoot, I'm not sure what he is bringing. I know this point has been belabored on here but I'm still not convinced this magical overall floor game people speak of exists. He had a few turnovers that were bad even for a high school player. He had one nice assist and a couple nice rebounds but only stood out on his bad plays otherwise.

To reiterate a point made by TheChosenOne on here a couple weeks ago, Conklin does not have an offensive game to speak of other than the offensive rebound mop-up stuff. He looks very clumsy. He had a couple looks where it literally looked like he was just throwing the ball at the backboard, and the shots weren't even tipped. He's got to be banging and rebounding or he doesn't offer much.

I give Mitchell, Jordan, and Salecich credit for not giving up and leading the charge with Smith after the game got out of hand. Maybe if a few more of their shots were falling, this is a totally different game. As it stands, these four guys were the only ones who appeared to be trying. And I don't care what anyone says, Salecich's shot is way better than Cassity's. It will start falling.

I give a ton of credit to Louis Orr's defensive scheme for this game; that 2-3 zone was relentless for 40 minutes. We were undersized down low and had trouble penetrating aside from a couple nice plays. We couldn't shoot the ball, so it worked like a charm for them. They also caused Cassity and a few other guys to cough it up with a half court (and sometimes 3/4 court) trap. Awesome defense by BGSU overall.

Sorry to be so verbose, but I had a 3-hour drive home after the game to think about this one. Most of our players have a high ceiling and that's exciting to see for guys like Smith and Remekun, but unless all of them have good games on the same night and we start hitting some shots, we're not going to be a threat on the road whatsoever this season.

[Majerus Magic]

Apologies for starting a new thread on the BGSU game, but the others are the game thread and Jon Smith thread, and I figured I'd go bigger picture since I actually did observe this game.

Bowling Green plays in Anderson Arena, which is now about 50 years old. It seats 6,000 and my guess of 1,500 for attendance was surprisingly accurate (1,518 in the box score), as the place didn't get very full at all. It's one of those old, quirky gyms that can feel very foreign to visiting players- wall at one end like a high school gym, very old baskets, the team colors plastered everywhere, hostile voices in the crowd that stand out individually- not an easy place to play for a team that just spent a month at home. No excuses, though. BGSU breaks ground on a new arena this year that should be complete in 2012.

I sat with the small contingent of SLU fans behind our bench; about half of these were Jon Smith's family and friends, and I was surprised at how reserved and polite they were, even when he was in and making plays. I would have been much louder if given a rare chance to see my brother/son/cousin/buddy play live. Super nice people. There were a few other SLU families there and a nice older couple from Toledo (the guy had the best SLU hat ever- I'll post the photo when I get home); so while we had some fans there who were very positive and stayed to the end, it wasn't exactly a raucous road cheering section (I was alone and unwilling to be a loud weirdo- need at least one other person to do that).

As you've all read by now, Jon Smith was the lone bright spot in this game. He was a spark off the bench. I counted 3, maybe 4 blocks, as on one, he and Remekun jumped for the same one and it was hard to see who got it, so the stat sheet shows Smith. I thought Remekun had more than 1 anyway, or that Reed had one- didn't seem like he got all our blocks. Either way, he was the most active big, and a lot of times was the only one making any noise on the bench and during timeouts. The other guys seemed tired or lost. Kwamain had a nice second half, I will say that much.

Once again, the road shooting is abysmal. I don't know what it is about SLU teams, whether these most recent ones, or Soderberg's, or Romar's, or Spoon's on back- we don't freaking score on the road. We can't shoot it. We're not a good shooting team this year, period, but on the road it's scary bad. The 6-19 from 3 is deceptive, as most of those came at the end when we tried to close the gap in garbage time. Cassity had the only one in the first half (the first basket of the game, at under 14 minutes) but he, Salecich, and Mitchell were all clanking them early. Conklin was the only one to get to the line in the first half and clanked both.

I knew we'd have problems when I saw Reed guarding Otis Polk for the first time. Polk got the ball in the post, turned and lowered his shoulder, sent Willie to the floor, and had an easy 2. They should have used Polk more because we had no bigs within 65 pounds of him, although he looked lazy this game and got a few fouls and sat more than usual. The size we give up underneath is a big problem. If Polk played his normal game, he could have had 20 and 12 without a problem. Willie looked like a very young freshman in this one. At least Smith and Remekun actually are just that.

Cassity worries me; if he can't shoot, I'm not sure what he is bringing. I know this point has been belabored on here but I'm still not convinced this magical overall floor game people speak of exists. He had a few turnovers that were bad even for a high school player. He had one nice assist and a couple nice rebounds but only stood out on his bad plays otherwise.

To reiterate a point made by TheChosenOne on here a couple weeks ago, Conklin does not have an offensive game to speak of other than the offensive rebound mop-up stuff. He looks very clumsy. He had a couple looks where it literally looked like he was just throwing the ball at the backboard, and the shots weren't even tipped. He's got to be banging and rebounding or he doesn't offer much.

I give Mitchell, Jordan, and Salecich credit for not giving up and leading the charge with Smith after the game got out of hand. Maybe if a few more of their shots were falling, this is a totally different game. As it stands, these four guys were the only ones who appeared to be trying. And I don't care what anyone says, Salecich's shot is way better than Cassity's. It will start falling.

I give a ton of credit to Louis Orr's defensive scheme for this game; that 2-3 zone was relentless for 40 minutes. We were undersized down low and had trouble penetrating aside from a couple nice plays. We couldn't shoot the ball, so it worked like a charm for them. They also caused Cassity and a few other guys to cough it up with a half court (and sometimes 3/4 court) trap. Awesome defense by BGSU overall.

Sorry to be so verbose, but I had a 3-hour drive home after the game to think about this one. Most of our players have a high ceiling and that's exciting to see for guys like Smith and Remekun, but unless all of them have good games on the same night and we start hitting some shots, we're not going to be a threat on the road whatsoever this season.

Pistol,

Thanks for the recap.

Couple of things. Wholeheartedly agree with Conklin. He is not a starter on a good team. He is a banger that defintely has a place on this team, but we just can't be a good team with him playing 30+ minutes a game.

Is it just me or as Jon Smith really started to develop quickly? I was in the group that thought Smif might not come back next year, but now it seems like he could really blossom.

On the road shooting...

Couldn't Majerus take them somewhere else to practice for a day or two? Just get them out of their comfort zone.

Agree to disagree on Cassity vs. Christian.

Question..

Was Willie just dominated or what? We all thought he was destined for all conference this year and now he got shut down by BG. Seems like a big turn of events.

[Cowboy]

-thanks pistol

-if we don't see a zone and a trap from every future opponent, esp when we are on the road, it would surprise me esp listening to porter after the game say they worked on it and it appeared like we had never seen it

[billiken_roy]

On the road shooting...

Couldn't Majerus take them somewhere else to practice for a day or two? Just get them out of their comfort zone.

they practiced in bowling green from thursday to saturday. i am wondering if rickma is in his annual go nuts and practice for 27 hours a day mode again that he does every xmas break. the kids probably need to get back to classes and studying so they can get some rest.

[brianstl]

I think we shouldn't write off Conklin yet. He was just starting to play really well before the high ankle sprain. From what I understand he still isn't fully recovered from it. High ankle sprains can linger for a long time. Hopefully the week off helps him fully recover.

[Guest BillikenReport]

I think we shouldn't write off Conklin yet. He was just starting to play really well before the high ankle sprain. From what I understand is still isn't fully recovered from it. High ankle sprains can linger for a long time. Hopefully the week off helps him fully recover.

Agree completely.

I don't think anyone outside of the team and coaching staff realizes how bad Conklin's injury was/is because the kid is so tough that he doesn't show it during the games.

[billiken_roy]

I think we shouldn't write off Conklin yet. He was just starting to play really well before the high ankle sprain. From what I understand is still isn't fully recovered from it. High ankle sprains can linger for a long time. Hopefully the week off helps him fully recover.

week off?

[brianstl]

week off?

No games.

[billiken_roy]

No games.

hell game days during xmas break are the only days they get a break. the rest of the days they are practicing round the clock as they arent governed by the ncaa practice rules over the break. considering our roster size, no one is getting days off without a note signed by obama, the surgeon general, and rickma's mom.

[Cowboy]

hell game days during xmas break are the only days they get a break. the rest of the days they are practicing round the clock as they arent governed by the ncaa practice rules over the break. considering our roster size, no one is getting days off without a note signed by obama, the surgeon general, and rickma's mom.

-what has been the practice schedule since the end of classes?

-i know willie said he went home for 3 days

[Westy03]

hell game days during xmas break are the only days they get a break. the rest of the days they are practicing round the clock as they arent governed by the ncaa practice rules over the break. considering our roster size, no one is getting days off without a note signed by obama, the surgeon general, and rickma's mom.

Conklin hasnt been practicing very much at all the past 2 weeks.

[jjray]

Agree completely.

I don't think anyone outside of the team and coaching staff realizes how bad Conklin's injury was/is because the kid is so tough that he doesn't show it during the games.

Another benefit of getting Cody, dial down Conklin's minutes allowing him to heal. We'll need Conk to be 100% when we bang with teams like Xavier.

[BACKHANDtheRICAN]

hell game days during xmas break are the only days they get a break. the rest of the days they are practicing round the clock as they arent governed by the ncaa practice rules over the break. considering our roster size, no one is getting days off without a note signed by obama, the surgeon general, and rickma's mom.

RM does not require Obama's signature. Just the backhand's.

[willie]

they practiced in bowling green from thursday to saturday. i am wondering if rickma is in his annual go nuts and practice for 27 hours a day mode again that he does every xmas break. the kids probably need to get back to classes and studying so they can get some rest.

I think this is a legitimate concern. Christmas break is always hard on players.

[kevinfootes]

hell game days during xmas break are the only days they get a break. the rest of the days they are practicing round the clock as they arent governed by the ncaa practice rules over the break. considering our roster size, no one is getting days off without a note signed by obama, the surgeon general, and rickma's mom.

roy, please share SLU's practice schedule over the break with us this year. I'm curious to see how much time they put in. Thanks.

[kevinfootes]

Apologies for starting a new thread on the BGSU game, but the others are the game thread and Jon Smith thread, and I figured I'd go bigger picture since I actually did observe this game.

Bowling Green plays in Anderson Arena, which is now about 50 years old. It seats 6,000 and my guess of 1,500 for attendance was surprisingly accurate (1,518 in the box score), as the place didn't get very full at all. It's one of those old, quirky gyms that can feel very foreign to visiting players- wall at one end like a high school gym, very old baskets, the team colors plastered everywhere, hostile voices in the crowd that stand out individually- not an easy place to play for a team that just spent a month at home. No excuses, though. BGSU breaks ground on a new arena this year that should be complete in 2012.

I sat with the small contingent of SLU fans behind our bench; about half of these were Jon Smith's family and friends, and I was surprised at how reserved and polite they were, even when he was in and making plays. I would have been much louder if given a rare chance to see my brother/son/cousin/buddy play live. Super nice people. There were a few other SLU families there and a nice older couple from Toledo (the guy had the best SLU hat ever- I'll post the photo when I get home); so while we had some fans there who were very positive and stayed to the end, it wasn't exactly a raucous road cheering section (I was alone and unwilling to be a loud weirdo- need at least one other person to do that).

As you've all read by now, Jon Smith was the lone bright spot in this game. He was a spark off the bench. I counted 3, maybe 4 blocks, as on one, he and Remekun jumped for the same one and it was hard to see who got it, so the stat sheet shows Smith. I thought Remekun had more than 1 anyway, or that Reed had one- didn't seem like he got all our blocks. Either way, he was the most active big, and a lot of times was the only one making any noise on the bench and during timeouts. The other guys seemed tired or lost. Kwamain had a nice second half, I will say that much.

Once again, the road shooting is abysmal. I don't know what it is about SLU teams, whether these most recent ones, or Soderberg's, or Romar's, or Spoon's on back- we don't freaking score on the road. We can't shoot it. We're not a good shooting team this year, period, but on the road it's scary bad. The 6-19 from 3 is deceptive, as most of those came at the end when we tried to close the gap in garbage time. Cassity had the only one in the first half (the first basket of the game, at under 14 minutes) but he, Salecich, and Mitchell were all clanking them early. Conklin was the only one to get to the line in the first half and clanked both.

I knew we'd have problems when I saw Reed guarding Otis Polk for the first time. Polk got the ball in the post, turned and lowered his shoulder, sent Willie to the floor, and had an easy 2. They should have used Polk more because we had no bigs within 65 pounds of him, although he looked lazy this game and got a few fouls and sat more than usual. The size we give up underneath is a big problem. If Polk played his normal game, he could have had 20 and 12 without a problem. Willie looked like a very young freshman in this one. At least Smith and Remekun actually are just that.

Cassity worries me; if he can't shoot, I'm not sure what he is bringing. I know this point has been belabored on here but I'm still not convinced this magical overall floor game people speak of exists. He had a few turnovers that were bad even for a high school player. He had one nice assist and a couple nice rebounds but only stood out on his bad plays otherwise.

To reiterate a point made by TheChosenOne on here a couple weeks ago, Conklin does not have an offensive game to speak of other than the offensive rebound mop-up stuff. He looks very clumsy. He had a couple looks where it literally looked like he was just throwing the ball at the backboard, and the shots weren't even tipped. He's got to be banging and rebounding or he doesn't offer much.

I give Mitchell, Jordan, and Salecich credit for not giving up and leading the charge with Smith after the game got out of hand. Maybe if a few more of their shots were falling, this is a totally different game. As it stands, these four guys were the only ones who appeared to be trying. And I don't care what anyone says, Salecich's shot is way better than Cassity's. It will start falling.

I give a ton of credit to Louis Orr's defensive scheme for this game; that 2-3 zone was relentless for 40 minutes. We were undersized down low and had trouble penetrating aside from a couple nice plays. We couldn't shoot the ball, so it worked like a charm for them. They also caused Cassity and a few other guys to cough it up with a half court (and sometimes 3/4 court) trap. Awesome defense by BGSU overall.

Sorry to be so verbose, but I had a 3-hour drive home after the game to think about this one. Most of our players have a high ceiling and that's exciting to see for guys like Smith and Remekun, but unless all of them have good games on the same night and we start hitting some shots, we're not going to be a threat on the road whatsoever this season.

Considering BGSU went 2-2 vs. the A-10 this year, they should easily make it to Atlantic City, but ptrobably not get a first round bye.

[Pistol]

Is it just me or as Jon Smith really started to develop quickly? I was in the group that thought Smif might not come back next year, but now it seems like he could really blossom.

On the road shooting...

Couldn't Majerus take them somewhere else to practice for a day or two? Just get them out of their comfort zone.

Question..

Was Willie just dominated or what? We all thought he was destined for all conference this year and now he got shut down by BG. Seems like a big turn of events.

MM, kept the parts of your post that I'll address directly.

Yes, Willie was dominated. That first beat-down from Polk was the tone of the game. He didn't play a ton of minutes, and when he was out there, he couldn't get the ball inside offensively and couldn't guard Polk at the other end. I thought at the very least his arms would be disruptive, but Polk is more of a back-to-the-basket, traditional center and Willie was helpless with the muscle difference. I will say, though, that both guys are listed at 6'9" and Willie is at least 1-2 inches taller, with much longer arms.

The zone rendered him absolutely ineffective. It just looked like he hadn't seen much of that type of defense and didn't know how to get free; plus, no one was doing him any favors since the guards couldn't penetrate. The couple shots he had were baseline jumpers from too far away, the sign of a frustrated big.

Jon Smith has a high ceiling. I love what he does vertically on defense; he's a beanpole but doesn't make stupid fouls and can guard taller guys because of his albatross arms and quick step. He'll rack up blocks if he gets more minutes. He was the only one of our bigs who figured out a way to get the ball inside, and had a couple quick dunks because of that. He got open when our guards weren't being creative. In the few minutes I've seen him play prior to this, and then the BGSU display, I like this kid.

Shooting in a practice gym or on your home floor is a lot different than shooting on the road. I'm not sure I put all the blame on Majerus for this for not getting them out of their comfort zone because your shot is such a personal thing as a basketball player; no one is more responsible for it than you as the player. So these guys have to get over whatever mental block it is, and I hope it's just a function of being young, inexperienced, and having a home-heavy schedule this year. A good shooter can shoot anywhere, and I'm not sure we have one of those yet. I will say that I see a fearlessness from Jordan, Salecich, and Mitchell that I don't see in any other guards when it comes to at least looking confident and taking good, open shots.

As for Conklin, I don't want anyone to think I'm writing him off completely or that I don't like him. I just don't think he has a great offensive skill set. Yes, his injury might be a big factor in that, and I'm clueless as to its severity. I also saw him play like an animal both nights in Chicago, so I'm aware of what he can do, but I stand by my comment that he seems to be most effective when he's able to bang and get offensive rebounds. If his injury is preventing him from doing that, I don't know what he's going to bring on that end.

[Quality Is Job 1]

they practiced in bowling green from thursday to saturday. i am wondering if rickma is in his annual go nuts and practice for 27 hours a day mode again that he does every xmas break. the kids probably need to get back to classes and studying so they can get some rest.

You're probably on to something here.

[Quality Is Job 1]

I think we shouldn't write off Conklin yet. He was just starting to play really well before the high ankle sprain. From what I understand he still isn't fully recovered from it. High ankle sprains can linger for a long time. Hopefully the week off helps him fully recover.

Didn't Conklin injure his ankle in one of the first few games of the season?